Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-08-20
GLINPSES OF NEW YORK.
SAe'ehes of Life, and Comment by
Cummings and Hall.

'As 'Ok lOCS THINGS LEARNED IN AN AMBER DEALER
shor-HTs OF OLD THEE GUN WORTH FIFTY DOL
LASs PoUSD-THE PIPES SMOKED BY NEW
hoHksRs-THE SCARCITY OF FAMOUS WOMEN.
special Correspondence of The EVENING STAR
NEW YORK, Aug. IL
There is little unpretentiOus store on Nassau
street, with shop in the rear. where more amber
Is cut than In any other establishment In New
YORK Aeerschaum Is carved there In great Quan-
Titles, but amber Is the special object OF trade
The ruling genius OF the place Is an intelligent
man Of middle age, Who learned his trade In Vi
emma, where nearly all meerscbaum and amber
carverS are sChOOled. H. tells You that when
they begin as apprentices they are frequently
sent OUT To the hoi.se Of some nobeman or mag
nate TO clean and repair his collection OF pipes
The collector Is not considered OF much account
By the apprentice un!ess he has an assortment OF
leo or more pipes, some OF them very delicate and
requiring the utmost care IN handbag.
IN THE AMBER CUTTERS SHOP
The Nassau street amber dealer lrtis tie way
into shop in the rear OF his place. tits queer
locking place, full OF Odd-lOoAing machines one OF
which l. polishing apparatus, made OF rags fast
ened in q circle about the spindle of lathe. The
room Il lacSel all about with racks full If cary
Ing tools The dealer GOES to a large cabiReI OF
drawers fUil OF dull-IOJkln, Jumps Of amber. AMI
he eX pains that no product Is more variable In
price one lot Which he shows YOU was purchaser
Ior 5o!iar pound, while Another, which iOoho
little better % yUT Unparalleled eye, cost 500 IL
Is IL selecting well lie economical cI4; ing Of
his amber tha; TIE successful dealer makes his
money. 4 pound Of a;..b-I, carefully cIt, re
CsEtsy Yields MT over In=..e and hail ounces Uf
marketable goClS, and the loss IN cutting IS
always over .. ie.' cent The dealer select, 4
promising piece 0f ap:Urr, st;rtS defeat: little
CiTcCis- ai cuts IL IL jwo Then - taxes o..e
or Lha SECTIONS, GA, IL rn1"!se on .it.u BLOCK
or bOI-TJNd, SIZE =, Curious a.t rather
= :. r.A.i,s 'irh l2o' S'e" NJ
5iDnrcd.5'F5 cH.oei, sF"tl tAe, rf.N, ahi
cuts thc snocr With downward p;.@'. III the
Implement Nearly every piece of amber has
sIes anu faWs.ah1 - eat II 20 as 10 remove These
AMI Sill Keep the piece q; d proper size and
shape requires III, utmost care. A the dealer
gradually fashions tE@ piece INTO a PIPE MOUTH
piece he els you what De has harmed about am
Der. be says -; i full Of electricity. aid sup
pO>e that = Why some the ancient philosophers
believes II 10 D.. possessed Of a soul / uySt II be-
lcve tAat Il hts curative properties. We take the
smaller fragments and Rake them into beads,
which -. at tTora Si.5C ~ sl@ set. They are
wOTL by May -uT' preventive Oi sore throat.
i have katsn Ilen 10 Wr.:r tneIn- TIE IHOst OF
OTr arbrr comes from mine Ia Prussia oIi the
Baltic coast. some Is nshed cut OF The sea near
1an;Zis. some amber has been found at Gay
1lead, i; &aTtnIs Vineyard. and at Cape Sable. In
this country. Then something 50 C-Osely ressIIl-
bling amber that ii is called iaiae amber Is found
II India II goes 10 China. and Is highly priced for
ornaments. IL You over on Mott street You ill
See the chinese dudes wearing bracelets made OF
it. The MUhanlInelisfs take more amber than any
other people. Amber il sI,nated as clear cloudy
or milky. The &ci.auiI."llIIIS and The Americans
who gGOi judges. prefer The milky variety. In
Hungary h"y Ike b,~t the clear or transparent.
Now. here Is what Looks Ike i clgar-hOider OF
trans parent amber, buJ IL isn't amber at ALL IL Is
made OF gum copal. IL isn't easy 10 initiate the
milky aMtcT, and that Is why II is preferred by
many.
RARE BTTs OF AMBER
AS the dealer talked he had gradually fashioned
the mOUthpieee 10 the required shape He put it
into a lathe-liSe machine and performed the deli
cate operation OF drilling hole through IL and
CuttinE thread on IL by which IL was 10 be at
he r1fr,. hon TIL
The operation lasted about an hour. The dealer
said that piece 81 amber weighing - pounds Is
rarity. and that the largest lump ever discovered
was OF l3L. pounds. Its use is increasing every
year. Whenever an amber cutter begins work on
transparent piece he always looks In IL Tor
sect or drop ui water. II le Is lucky enough to
ind such curiosity he knows that he can sell II
10 "A collector or a college museum for a handsome
sum. The insects which became Undecided ages
ago IN the soft tree gum which gradually hardened
and found p!aC" Ia the ground ao amber are sub
JectS Of careful study By ndJurdiistS- Not long
ago college purchased IN Europe two large trauS-
parent specimens. IN the center OF each OF which
was q perfect nv. They Were hi his priced until
II was discovered that they made OF gum
Ccpal, and tn;it the Insects We're hois'. lilies OF Late
date. To find piece or amber with i drop O1
water In II i, considered the greatest OF good for
tune, and small piece VIII hriH- 500 or more.
The rage III New y OTN fur large hair ornaments
has given an impetus 10 the amber trade. and one
carver IA the de..ler'o shep has fashioned large
piece into an eIIUJr1tCIy carved DTei5Jpln repre-
sent1ng rose.
BUYING GERMAN PIPES IN NEW YORK.
When the dealer had returned TO the front of his
establishment q customer came IN and purchased
an expensive amber CI-Ir-hOder. He requested
that IL be Enclosed in q box not stamped with The
dealers name. His desire was granted. The
dealer smiled and asked: Have you Just returned
from VIENNA The customer laughed, answered
IL the Affirmative, ana said that lie wished To
make friend i present OF genuine Vienna cigar
holder. The dealer capitalized that nearly every
day some man who has been abroad comes In 10
buy pipe Tor present lie either forgot when
In VIENNA 10 purchase promised pipe he Didn't
want u pay the duty ON the present, and lie
makes his purchase AZ home and deceiveS his
TREND. Straight briar pipes with horn
iGOutapieCeS have become very popular with some
New YORK smokers. while the teTlnanS prefer tor
street smoking little HecT9Chduin with q goose
bone stem. The AnglOInauiac, made Il hard Slrug-
81 L introduce III New \ OK Tine English fashion
uf >In jkIlE pip. ON me street, bull the attempt
Was hot attended with entire success. Compare
lively few ~IuDAtr> IL New York Use u cigar or
esaT.tte holder. bit the great NUMBER OF those
articles given presents during The holiday sea-
son by wives VINO don know wudt Else 10 buy and
UhO hit upon q smokers Outit as a last resort
keeps the trad- hy.ly- II tine Teuton grantees
who USsG 20 control the amber mines OI Prussia
and TJ4I II luxury from their proceeds were HOW
alive ami could have monopoly Of all the amber
cut and sold Ia New York they could live In great
grandeur, Tor nearly al tine amber III America Is
LAID. eu IL New OK. AMOS j. CUMMINGS